MUNCIE – The Indiana Supreme Court will not review a Muncie couple’s convictions stemming from the abuse and death of a 5-year-old girl.

The state’s highest court last week declined to consider the cases of Charlene and Marcus Tabb, both serving lengthy prison terms as a result of the June 2013 death of Marie Pierre, Charlene Tabb’s young cousin.

The Supreme Court’s decision to not review the cases deals a significant blow to any hopes the Tabbs entertained of winning new trials or reduced sentences.

In December, the Indiana Court of Appeals – with former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Randy Shepard writing the decisions – upheld the Tabbs’ convictions and sentences.

“It would be difficult to find a case where the jury’s verdicts were more thoroughly supported by the evidence,” Shephard wrote in one of those rulings.

Authorities said Charlene Tabb and two of her younger siblings tortured Marie in the months before her death. A pathologist testified the little girl had more than 80 cuts, bruises and burns, in various stages of healing at the time she died.

“We are very pleased with the outcome of these appeals,” Chief Deputy Prosecutor Eric Hoffman said Monday. “Although we will never forget Marie, this is a very sad chapter that can finally be closed.”

In July 2014, Charlene Tabb, now 32, was sentenced to 87 years in prison by Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. after a Delaware Circuit Court 5 jury found her guilty of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, five counts of battery and three other counts of neglect.

Tabb had also been accused of abusing and neglecting her three younger siblings, who had moved – with Marie – from Florida to Muncie to live with the Tabbs in the summer of 2012.

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Marcus Tabb, now 56, received a 56-year prison term in December 2014 after he was convicted of seven related charges. Cannon said Tabb had been “completely unwilling to protect a 5-year-old girl who could not defend or protect herself.”

Two of Charlene Tabb’s siblings were convicted as juveniles for their roles in their cousin’s death.

Hoffman noted that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month.

“I want to remind everyone that we all have a legal duty to report child abuse and neglect,” he said. “If a person fails to do so, you can expect to be prosecuted.”

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.